Enchanted Summer Page 22

  Hanna reached out and touched his shoulder. “She did that because she loved you, Nate,” she said softly. “I would have done the same for someone I loved, if I had that power.”

  Nate shook his head. “She shouldn’t have done that.”

  Mimi leaped up to her feet. “Maybe I should make us all some tea?”

  Everyone looked up, agreeing and thanking her. Hanna’s gaze lingered on her the longest. As Mimi left the room, she followed after her.

  “Hey, are you all right?” she asked carefully as they turned into the kitchen.

  Mimi walked over to one of the cupboards and opened it up. She took out a teapot and placed it on the counter.

  “Yes, everything’s fine.” She gave Hanna an assuring smile.

  Hanna smiled back, unsure. “You do look different. You looked so pale just this morning, and I was worried about you. Has anything happened?”

  Mimi opened a jar of black tea blend and measured out a few spoons. “I think I have a new idea,” she said.

  “Oh!” Hanna’s eyes lit up. “You mean a story idea? Mimi, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you!”

  She ran up and squeezed her from behind. Mimi giggled.

  “I feel a bit guilty, though,” she admitted, biting her lip. “I mean, not that I ever wished anything bad to happen to Ariadne, but … I can’t say I never wanted, even for a moment, that she would go back to her Forest, and Nate would be single again.”

  Hanna crossed her arms and leaned against the nearest counter. “Everyone has such thoughts every once in a while. Don’t feel bad about that.”

  “I never wished any harm for her.” Mimi reached up to open another cupboard. “I hope she feels better soon.”

  Her eyes fell on a tall box tucked in between the other boxes on the first shelf. Mimi frowned. She took the box out and turned it in her hands. Shivers crept down her spine.

  What was this going there?

  Hanna tilted her head to look at the box.

  “Cheerios?” She quirked an eyebrow. “I thought nobody in your family ate those.”

  ∞∞∞

  Ariadne stirred and pried her eyes open.

  “Nate …” she murmured. “Nate …”

  A soft chime sounded in response. And then a voice. A familiar voice—but not Nate’s.

  “Your Highness. You’re awake?”

  Ariadne closed her eyes and opened them again. Her body felt as if it were made of stone. She could barely move her limbs, and her wings hung limply at her back.

  “Where am I?” she whispered.

  Her thoughts flowed slowly and sluggishly. She wished she were just having a bad dream. Soon she would wake up and find Nate lying by her side, stroking her wings and whispering something to her.

  But as she became more awake, she realized that this reality wasn’t going anywhere. She was back in the Rainbow Castle. In her personal chambers. With Lady Bronwyn sitting by her bed, watching her anxiously.

  “Why am I here?” Ariadne asked.

  “I brought you here,” Lady Bronwyn explained. “You were very weak. You will feel better now. Your parents were so worried about you. Your mother has just left. I’ll call her now.”

  Before she could get up, Ariadne reached out—with all the strength that was left in her—and took her tutor’s hand, holding her back. Lady Bronwyn returned to her seat. Her hand was warm as she squeezed her fingers back.

  “Where is Nate?” Ariadne whispered.

  Lady Bronwyn leaned closer, as if someone could overhear them. “I’ve told him everything. He was upset, but he wanted you to feel better.”

  Ariadne felt too weak to even cry.

  “I don’t want to be here,” she said. “I want to be with him. I don’t care about the throne, or the laws, or—”

  “Highness.” Lady Bronwyn got on her knees and captured both of Ariadne’s hands in hers. Her voice quivered. “I will do anything to protect you. I will plead with His Majesty. I will take the punishment. I will convince them it was all my fault. But, please …” Ariadne could see tears in her eyes as she whispered, “I don’t want to lose you the way I lost my sister.”

  Ariadne closed her eyes. She wished she could disappear. Become the wind and the light playing in the foliage of the Enchanted Forest. Maybe that was what Eliya had become after her death. A dryad never truly left the Forest. Some said the fairy lights floating in the air were the souls of deceased dryads, but Ariadne never believed that. She’d much rather turn into a tree. Or a gust of warm breeze.

  As her body relaxed and she fell into a slumber, she could hear an echo of a melody Nate played for her just before she last saw him.

  Twenty-Six

  Nate knew he had to move on with his life, but it seemed impossible.

  Each day, as Ariadne’s magic gradually left his garden, he watched the grass grow taller and the flowers fade and wither away. Soon he would have to mow the lawn, prune the bushes, and do all the chores that regular people had to do to keep their gardens looking good.

  He didn’t want to do it. He wished he could let nature take care of itself, as it always found a way to make a place look beautiful.

  Thankfully, the willow tree stayed happy and healthy without Ariadne’s assistance.

  To keep himself from going insane over the loss, Nate played every day. Whatever she did for him, it’d worked. He didn’t feel any resistance toward the piano anymore.

  Every day was the same as the last. He woke up and headed to work. After spending the whole day at the diner, he returned home and played the piano for a few hours before it was time for him to go to bed. Nate took up more shifts to keep himself busy, and whatever weekend he had, he spent it with his friends, who did all they could to keep him from falling into depression.

  But he knew things would not stay the same forever. As the summer was coming to a close, Hanna, Mimi, and Ryan prepared to go back to school, and Ray’s plans of moving away were taking shape as well. Hanna and he had even gone away for a couple of days to look at possible future apartments.

  The world was moving on, and Nate felt like he was the only one stuck in the past.

  At nights, he dreamed of the Enchanted Forest and Ariadne leading him through it. He wished his soul could visit her while he slept, even if he wouldn’t remember anything in the morning, but knew the chances of that were very slim, and maybe that was the best for both of them.

  At one point, he started to record his music again. He’d even bought some equipment online, and shared a few more melodies with his friends. They all loved them, and it made him happy.

  But it was not the same.

  Only when she’d left him, Nate realized how empty his life had been before she came into it. She made him remember his connection with nature, and he’d gone on a few solitary walks through the woods, but somehow, everything was not the same when she wasn’t around.

  With Ariadne gone, Nate felt like something vital was missing from his life; from his very core. As if a part of his own soul had withered like those magical flowers. And there was no one and nothing to replace that.

  ∞∞∞

  Mimi spent the last few weeks of summer locked up in her bedroom, typing away.

  Hanna came to visit every day, and her brothers popped in every once in a while to ask if she wanted to eat, but she mostly shooed them away. She felt like an electric device, finally plugged in and charging after being locked away in a drawer for so long. With every second, she came alive.

  She stopped crying. She stopped hoping and wishing for someone to come and save her. She slept better at nights.

  She started wearing more comfortable clothing and stopped obsessing over her appearance. She even found herself looking less and less through her social media feeds to compare herself to every girl she saw, as her mind had focused on something truly important to her.

  That girl on the page, though—she was suffering. But Mimi knew, deep inside, she’d find a way out of it, too.

  One ni
ght, walking Ollie around the neighborhood and playing out a new scene from her story in her head, Mimi suddenly saw Nate crossing the road.

  Her heart leaped in her chest. Whenever she saw him, her body still reacted to him the way it did in the past, although her mind was calmer. Either way, she tried not to come across him if possible to let the wound fully heal.

  But whenever she saw him these days, he looked so sad she couldn’t help but want to cheer him up a bit. She still couldn’t get rid of the feelings of guilt whenever she thought of the way things had ended between him and Ariadne.

  Taking a deep breath, Mimi called out to him and then ran to greet him. Ollie barked and rushed up ahead.

  After scratching Ollie’s back and giving him all the attention he demanded, Nate offered to walk them both home.

  “I wanted to show you something but never got around to it,” Mimi confessed after biting her lip for two long moments. “Remember you told me to try and record the sounds of the forest?”

  Before she could talk herself out of doing it, she took out her phone and earphones and handed them to Nate for him to take a listen, sharing her observations all the while.

  Nate was impressed. They discussed the topic all the way back to Mimi’s house, and he promised to send her a few of his own recordings. Just like that, Mimi got his number.

  “Are you … feeling any better?” she asked hesitantly as they neared her home.

  Nate nodded—but she could see he only did it because he didn’t want her to be concerned about him. She did the same with Ray and Hanna, but he could fool no one.

  “I just hope she’s all right,” he said softly as they halted by the porch stairs.

  His gaze went distant again. Mimi felt a pang of guilt.

  “Nate …” she murmured, drawing his attention. “I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head, frowning slightly at her. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

  “I know, I just …” Mimi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling her cheeks grow hot. “I feel like I haven’t got to know her better. And I wish I was more friendly toward her.”

  A slight smile touched Nate’s lips. “Mimi, you’re an angel,” he said. “You, of all people, can do no wrong. I’m sure Ariadne thinks the same.”

  Mimi’s cheeks flushed. She wished he would stop saying things like that. Did he even realize how she could have interpreted that in the past?

  She hurried to wrap up the conversation and wished him goodnight. Then returned to her bedroom, saying hello to Ryan on her way there and leaving Ollie to watch a movie with him on the couch.

  Mimi closed the door and leaned against it, releasing a breath.

  “Don’t call a girl ‘an angel’ unless you’re flirting with her,” she grumbled quietly to herself.

  Then she shook herself out of her reverie, lit up a scented candle, and opened her laptop.

  For now, she decided, it was probably the best to distance herself from him

  ∞∞∞

  Her wedding was postponed due to her poor state of health.

  Ariadne wished it was canceled completely, but she knew her father wouldn’t agree to it that easily.

  Her mother was also not feeling well. She’d suffered a lot after her only daughter had disappeared so suddenly, and Ariadne felt guilty about it, but at the same time, she regretted nothing. She only wished her father would take a hint—he almost lost both his daughter and his wife, and he still remained as stubborn as usual. Ariadne sometimes wondered if they meant anything to him at all.

  More than anything, she wished to see Nate.

  As soon as she was strong enough to walk, she asked Lady Bronwyn to take her to the forest. Together they walked the familiar paths, visited all her favorite places. And all the while, Ariadne told her tutor about him and about her adventures in the human world. Lady Bronwyn listened attentively but scarcely said anything. Ariadne knew she didn’t judge her, but at the same time, for whatever reason, her tutor didn’t want to share her thoughts with her.

  Ariadne desperately wanted to hear Nate play again.

  One day, she left the castle with Lady Bronwyn, but as they got deeper into the woods, she asked her to stay behind and let her walk alone. Lady Bronwyn agreed, but she still stayed close enough to keep an eye on her ward, in case she decided to escape again. Ariadne knew that, and she didn’t mind it. She knew she couldn’t run off now, and that was not her plan.

  She followed the path to the clearing where she first met Nate as a child, imagining all the while that she could see and hear him again. Closing her eyes, she recalled the way moonlight played on his hair, and how soft it was to the touch, when a rustling sound to her right suddenly drew her attention. Ariadne threw a glance at the bushes, certain it was some pesky pixie causing trouble, but gasped as she recognized a familiar face.

  Mimi walked into the clearing, looking around in wonder. She wore a white dress and was barefoot, her hair hanging loose down her shoulders.

  “Mimi …” Ariadne whispered. She clutched her hands to her chest and took a few steps in her direction. “I’m so sorry …”

  Mimi’s soul looked so peaceful as she explored the clearing. Ariadne fell to her knees and watched her wander around. It was the first time in her life that she’d met the soul of someone whose suffering she had partially caused. The feeling nearly crushed her.

  Mimi was healing now. That was good, of course.

  Ariadne wished she could help her, but being as drained as she was, doing so could harm her severely. So she only beckoned her silently and led her to the part of the forest that had the strongest currents of magic flowing through it.

  As she returned to the castle that day, Lady Bronwyn at her heels, Ariadne felt more exhausted than she was the previous day. She refused to have dinner and went to bed earlier. And the next morning, she didn’t get out.

  Twenty-Seven

  Another day at the diner, equally as long and uneventful as the last, had come to an end, and Nate drove home.

  Some distant part of him that refused to accept the reality still hoped that he would open the door and find Ariadne waiting for him. But as day after day passed and the miracle did not happen, that part slowly gave way to rational thinking.

  Nate had to admit—the fairytale was over. Sometimes he wondered if it even happened at all.

  He took out the keys and opened the door, trying to think only of the piano that awaited him inside, when the light flickered on, revealing a stranger sitting on top of one of the barstools.

  Nate staggered back and nearly dropped the keys.

  No, that was not a stranger. He’d seen her before. That was Ariadne’s tutor, Lady Bronwyn.

  “What … How did you—” he stammered, staring at her wide-eyed.

  Lady Bronwyn rose to her feet. Her expression was serious.

  “There was an open window on the second floor. I got in and waited for you to come back. I haven’t touched anything, so don’t worry about it.”

  Nate let out a breath he’d been holding. “That’s not what I’m—”

  “I know,” she interrupted him again. “I’m here because of the same person you think about. Ariadne. She needs you.”

  Nate’s heart leaped at hearing her name. He made a step forward. “How is she feeling?”

  Lady Bronwyn dropped her eyes and shook her head. “Not well. I thought that once she was back in the Forest, she would recover. And she did—at first. But then … she got worse.” She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. “Us, dryads—we can get sick from certain emotions. They drain our magical energy and block the magic from entering our bodies. A dryad that is fully drained out of magic dies.”

  Nate sucked in a breath. “What can I do to help?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment. “I know it is against the law, and you probably know it too. But I will do anything for Her Highness, even if it costs me my life. I came here to take you to the Enchanted Forest.”

  Nate nodded. “
I’m ready to go.”

  He almost reached for the door handle when Lady Bronwyn stopped him in the action.

  “Before we go,” she said, taking a step forward, “I need to tell you something.”

  Nate dropped his hand and turned to face her.

  She paused and took another measured breath, as if what she was about to say required some self-control on her part.

  Her eyes gleamed as she regarded him.

  “You,” she said, “are my great-nephew.”

  For a second or two, Nate just stared at her in disbelief. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

  “I’m sorry …” he said, his brows furrowed. “What?”

  Lady Bronwyn took another breath. “My sister, Eliya, was your grandmother,” she clarified.

  Nate raised an eyebrow, totally puzzled. “What? How—”

  “I know how it sounds.” She took a step in his direction. “And trust me, I was as shocked as you are when I realized that. I haven’t had contact with your family in decades. But believe me—I’ve checked it. I would never say a thing like that if I wasn’t completely sure.”

  Nate’s mind was racing. “That story Ariadne had told me … Could it be that—”

  “A story about a dryad that had broken the law of the Forest? Yes, that was my sister, Eliya.”

  “But … How come I didn’t know that? Nobody ever told me anything …”

  “Think about it.” Lady Bronwyn stepped closer to him. “Have you known your grandmother?”

  “No,” Nate admitted. “I knew she’d died right after giving birth to my father. My father was always kind of bitter about it. I never got it. It was as if he blamed her for leaving him. As if she had a choice …” He ran a hand over his face. “And my grandfather. He always told me those stories; those fairytales. People used to make fun of him for believing in things like that. But he was always so kind to everyone. He never married after he’d lost my grandmother. Said he could never love another woman as much as he loved her.”

  Lady Bronwyn’s gaze softened. “You were named Nathaniel. Is there a chance your grandfather gave you that name?”